Pharmacist (Clinical Specialist)

Summary

The Endocrinology Care Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner (CPP) will work collaboratively with providers and teams in active pharmacotherapy management of individual patients and assist in the educational mission of the CRH Tele-Pharmacy Service.

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Duties

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VA Careers - Pharmacy :

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Major Duties to include but not limited to the following:

Clinical Practice

• 1. Maintains a clinical practice through provision of patient care during new patient and/or follow-up visits. Coordinates care for patients with other healthcare providers.
• 2. Provides and coordinates medication management services for patients in the designated clinic(s) according a broad scope of practice focused on chronic disease state management. This shall include: a. Initiating, discontinuing and/or changing medications through the electronic medical record b. Ordering labs and other tests to help determine efficacy and toxicity of medication therapy c. Managing care across the continuum of the health care system d. Referring patients to appropriate health care providers e. Performing physical assessments as needed f. Performing patient triage functions as needed
• 3. Documents all encounters in the patient's clinical record.
• 4. Demonstrates competence in differentiating individual patient pharmaceutical care needs based on patient age from adult (18-64) through geriatric (65+)
• 5. Renews and orders medications per Scope of Practice with peer review.
• 6. Evaluates orders for appropriateness and drug interactions, allergies and adverse reactions, and duplicate therapy.
• 7. Provides appropriate patient consultation for all new prescriptions. Inquires about side effects and patient questions for refill prescriptions. Evaluates patient's ability to understand instructions. Provides verbal and written instructions to promote patient medication adherence as appropriate. Documents all elements of patient consultation.
• 8. Accountable for comprehensive medication management according to procedure.
• 9. Maintains an in-depth clinical knowledge of chronic disease state management.
• 10. Provides direct patient care for comprehensive medication management which includes chronic disease state management.

Distributive Functions

• 1. Reviews service connection for appropriate costs and payment and applies VA local standards for appropriate dispensing per departmental needs.
• 2. Supervises technical staff to maintain efficient and effective operations per departmental needs.
• 3. Checks and approves items prepared by pharmacy technicians per departmental needs.

Clinical Education and Scholarly Activities

• 1. Serves as a preceptor and shares responsibility for training, guidance and evaluation of learners including students and residents.
• 2. Assists the Residency Program Directors in the direction and coordination of the program.

Administrative Support

• 1. Independently manages comprehensive medication management services for ambulatory patients.
• 2. Manages quality improvement programs for comprehensive medication management services and coordinates activities with other services.

Customer Service and Teamwork

• 1. Maintains excellent working relationship with department and organization staff.

Work Schedule : 8:00am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday

Compressed/Flexible :Not Authorized

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

EDRP May be Authorized based on Facility Location: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact View email address on click.appcast.io , the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $625.00 .

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

Telework : AD-HOC

Virtual: This position is currently operating under an extension to the return-to-office requirement. That extension can be withdrawn at any time, at which point the employee would be required to return to the office.

Functional Statement # : 24056F

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation/examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements :

United States Citizenship : Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

Education: A Graduate of an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited College or School of Pharmacy with a baccalaureate degree in pharmacy (BS Pharmacy) and/or a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree

English Language Proficiency

Licensure. Full, current and unrestricted license to practice pharmacy in a State, Territory, Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia

Grade Determinations: GS-13 Clinical Pharmacy Specialist

In addition to the basic requirements above, applicants must meet the grade level requirements below

• Experience. Applicantsmust have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level of GS-12. Examples of specialized experience include:
  • Handles routine medication-related activities in accordance with local, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), and national policies and regulations.
  • Review, interpret, and verify medication orders for appropriateness.
  • Process and fill medication orders.
  • Interact with and make recommendations to other clinical staff regarding medication therapy ordered to ensure safe and effective care.
  • Review patient's medications, allergies, labs, and other pertinent information from the medical record to identify and solve medication-related problems.
  • Contact providers as appropriate; documenting recommendations and interventions.
  • Perform medication reconciliation.
  • Assisting in formulary management including therapeutic substitutions.

And,

• Demonstrated Knowledge , Skills and Abilities (KSAs). Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following KSAs:
  • Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions.
  • Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area.
  • Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise.
  • Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy.
  • Advanced skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters.

Preferred Experience:

• Direct patient care and comprehensive medication management responsibilities in Endocrinology Care.
• An advanced pharmacy degree (Pharm.D),
• Board Certification (BPS),
• PGY1 Pharmacy Practice
• PGY2 Endocrinology Care Pharmacy or related Specialty Care
• DEA license or will obtain a DEA license soon or as needed.

Physical Requirements: There may be some walking, standing, sitting, bending, and carrying of light items.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13 .

Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.